Breath of Heaven
by Cara Lea
Summary: Kyrus Halloway was never a normal girl. She never got to play, or go to school, or even make friends. Kept in solitude, she develops a mind like no other, a mind that could come useful to many. And with her life on the line, Kyrus must act quickly if she plans on helping anyone.
1. Prologue

_I wasn't always sick. At least I was born healthy.  
__But one day, I just got sick. It was horrible, they say. The doctors did everything they could, and while I wasn't getting sicker, I wasn't getting any better either. They told my parents that I never was. They were really worried about me, and one day they got sick too. I wasn't there when it happened, all I know is that one night, there was an accident, and my parents were gone._

_Hollis went to live with Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Brian; and I got to live with Grandma…well, sort of. At least she came and visited me every day. And every time she came, she brought with her fun puzzles. She said they made me smarter. I didn't feel smarter. I felt like the same old me. But I noticed as I got older that things were getting easier for me. Not physically, never physically. But when I read something, or watched something on TV, it was easier to understand. Things went on like that until Grandma made me take an IQ test. Apparently, I scored pretty well. Grandma was really proud of me._

_She wasn't the only one, however, who thought I was smart. And although I didn't know it, I was about to become very important in the lives of many others I hadn't even met. __C'est__lavis__? My life had never been normal. So maybe for me, it was._


	2. Chapter 1

I wanted to make it longer, but I don't have a lot of time left in the day, and I think it would be a bad decision to have a really long opening. So we're going to try and gradually make the chapters longer. FYI: this story takes place in a mix-verse of TF Prime and TF G1. Try not to get confused.

-Cara Lea

* * *

Chapter One

Ratchet walked, placing one foot carefully in front of the other. This hot desert was the last place on Earth he had expected to find himself, but here he was, stranded on this Primus-forsaken rock with scorching sand under his feet. What was worse, he was stuck here with fraggers he cared for very little. Or a lot. He generally cared for each and every one of his comrades, but it was pretty annoying to be stuck here with them in an overcrowded base.

First there was Optimus: their brave and noble leader. He was a grand leader that every one of them should have looked after. Then was Arcee, the small femme that had more to do than say. Ratchet didn't mind Arcee, he might have even built up a respect for her. Then there was Bulkhead, the big brute who had too much fist for his brain. Then Bumblebee, the little mute who was as strange as his design. Then there was Wheeljack, a thick-head like Bulkhead, but with a science background. Ratchet had actually worked with Wheeljack before on Cybertron, not that that mattered anymore. Wheeljack had joined the Wreckers and vanished off into the dark night with Seaspray and the others, and had come back…different.

Then there were the twins: who needed air every day (and were the primary reason that Ratchet was taking this little scouting mission). Last of all were the Autobot Second and Third in Command: Prowl and Jazz respectively. Although the two of them were almost never at base, they were always out doing _something_ to protect the human race. Ultimately, their little plans were what kept the Earth-based unit alive.

"Hey, Ratch," one of the twins called out to him. The surly medic grimaced, wishing that the two rather respectable warriors would leave him alone. He had asked them to come as his guard, but really, they just needed fresh air. There was nothing out here for Ratchet to be doing, and he suspected they both knew that. But for images sake, he needed to keep them out and about every now and then, and useless scouting missions were a perfect ruse to keep them thoroughly entertained.

He decided to ignore them for now. As long as they thought he couldn't hear them, maybe they'd leave him alone. No such luck: "Ratchet!"

"What do you want?" he hissed, turning and looking in the direction that they were pointing. There was a tiny human running toward them. She was too far out to make any details, but already he could tell that she was tired.

"Should we transform, or something?" Sideswipe asked nervously, while his brother put in, "Yeah, aren't we supposed to be robots in disguise?"

"Too late for that," Ratchet responded dejectedly. "If we're close enough to see her, then she's definitely close enough to see us."

The twins exchanged a glance, but didn't argue. Being a respectable medic had its perks.

But as the human got closer, Ratchet wasn't sure that had seen them, or even that she could. She was running pretty quickly toward them, and although she was steadily slowing down, he didn't think it was because of them. "Where are you running to?" he muttered, taking a step toward her.

That seemed to shake her from her reverie. He blinked in surprise as she came to a halt beneath him. She was _thin_, and very pale for somebody running in the desert during spring. She had long, wispy white hair that whipped around in the wind. Emanating from her was a very strange rasping sound, as though she were trying to growl at them in a primal fashion. Very slowly, she tilted her head back to stare up at him. Her eyes were a very pale blue, with flecks of red in them. The rasping sound grew louder as she stared up at him blankly. Without warning, her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed where she stood.

The rasping sound grew quieter as she fell.

"By the Allspark, is that her _breathing_," Sideswipe exclaimed. Ratchet didn't answer, just transformed and opened up his back.

"Put her in, we gotta get her to a hospital _now_."

…

Ratchet paced back and forth in front of his computer. Optimus had wanted to know everything about the girl they had found in the desert, the same girl who had earlier that day found out about them. The chief medic could easily have looked up all that information on his computers, but Agent Fowler had absolutely forbidden it.

"As a human working for the United States Government, I have to protect the privacy rights this girl deserves."

But he had returned with the information anyway.

"Her name is Kyrus Halloway," he said quietly. "Girl's fifteen."

"Fifteen?" Arcee had put in. "That's awfully young to be running alone through the desert. For human standards, anyway."

Agent Fowler nodded to her agreeably. "Girl and her grandmother went missing four days ago," he explained. "Nobody knew what happened to them. But her return must mean answers." Fowler had then saluted to the twins and Ratchet. "The United States thanks you for finding her."

"And returning her to her family," Wheeljack put in.

But Fowler shook his head. "The girl's family is dead."

Arcee leaned forward. "You mean she's homeless?"

"No," Fowler answered quietly. "She never had a home. Parents died a long time ago in a car crash. Her sister was sent to live with her aunt and uncle while Kyrus stayed with grandma. Girl's going to an In Care facility in town. She's pretty sick with tuberculosis."

"Tuberculosis?" Ratchet asked. "What's that?"

"It's a disease of the lungs," Fowler said, looking him dead in the eye. "Don't worry, it's perfectly curable."

Ratchet nodded, looking at his hands. Sometimes, he wished he could heal tiny figures with them. Human biology was actually pretty interesting. But the doctors here would put this Kyrus girl right, and he need not get involved anymore.

Fowler walked over to the elevator he always used to get in and out of the base. "About what the girl might have seen of your bots, Prime, I don't know. She hasn't woken up yet. I'll get back to you when I find out more."

The doors snapped to a shut and Fowler was gone. Ratchet looked around. Everyone was staring at one another. Finally, Optimus spoke: "I think it would be unwise to mention to our human companions what happened today." His tone was somber. "We don't know what they know of this Kyrus, and I think it would be better to keep them out of the situation if it could be embarrassing for her."

Ratchet nodded. He wasn't going to say anything. Why would he? This strange Kyrus girl was not his responsibility. So long as she was healed, and kept away from him, he need never worry about her again.

…

Ratchet stood at his computer. So far, the day had gone according to schedule. No Decepticon activity (thank you Primus!) and the twins hadn't wreaked too much havoc. In fact, he was just thinking about taking them out when the call came in.

"Agent Fowler?" he asked when he picked up. "Is something wrong?"

"You remember that girl Kyrus?" asked the deep voiced agent. From behind, the three humans looked up from where they had been playing cards. Ratchet winced. They had agreed not to tell the humans about Kyrus, but it looks like Fowler had just spoiled that.

"Yes, I remember."

"She woke up this morning," Fowler said. "And you're gonna want to alert Prime: He'll want to hear the story she has to tell."


End file.
